He alleged his rival had been picked purely on 'media profile" rather than form.

But he was among the first to congratulate the London 2012 gold medalist following his record jump last week.

And last night he insisted he had the "utmost respect" for Rutherford and it was not a personal attack on the Milton Keynes athlete, who announced yesterday that he is to become a father for the first time.

"This isn't necessarily about making money or breaking records or getting medals," Tomlinson told BBC Tees. "It should be about what's right and what's wrong.

"There's video evidence that clearly states it's not a marginal foul, it's a large foul jump. In essence, obviously, I feel the jump shouldn't be taken forward. I feel it isn't a legitimate jump.

"Everybody can see it's a very dubious jump and if we want to be correct about this we need to, as an organisation, say 'Are we going to accept these marks?'

"If we're starting to accept this then, for me personally, I just think we're losing a little bit of the essence of the sport."